Coupling for electric-light fixtures



A. A. SCHWARTZ AND W. A. WHITESl-DE. COUPLING FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT FIXTURES.

APPLICATION men FEB. I. 1918.

wllnllillll III'IIIIIIIII Hi8 COLUMBIA PMNOG'RAPH c0., WASHINGTON. D. c.

Patented Oct. 14,1919.

- ing electric light fixtures to walls or ceilings. One of its objects, is the provision of a" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR A. SCHWARTZ AND WILLIAM A. WHITESIDEOF BUFFALO, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNORS TO J. ALFRED GAUTHIER, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

COUPLING FOB. ELECTRIC-LIGHT rix'runns,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 0a. 11, 1919.

Application filed February 1, 1918 Serial No. 214,989.

ARTHUR A.

tures, of which the following is a specifica-r tion. I V

This invention relates to the class of brackets or couplings employed for attachsimple, compact and inexpensive coupling or fitting of this character which facilitates the connection of the fixture-wires to the supply wires of the building.

A further object is to provide the coupling withsimple and reliable insulating means to prevent grounding or short-circuiting and protect the user from shocks.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a ceiling-fixture provided with the improved coupling. Fig. 2 is atransverse section on line 22, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the base-member. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the removable block and the tubular member carried by it.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, our invention is shown in connection with a so-called hickey or coupling for converting a gas fixture into an electric fixture, but the improvement 18 equally applicable to other fittings or coulin s.

1 indicates the ceiling and 1 a gas-pipe from which the gas fixture has been removed and to which an electric lamp or fixture 2 is attached by means of our improved coupling In the embodiment shown in the drawings, this coupling comprises a hickey or base-member 3 having at its upper end a screw connection 4: which receives the projecting end of the externally threaded gas pipe 1*. At its lower end the hickey has a three-sided socket preferably open at its front end and closed at its rear end, as shown at 5, while at the lower edges of its side-walls are inwardly-extending rails or flanges 6 which converge toward the closed rear end of the socket. I

Removably seated in said socket is ablock 7 which carries the electric fixture. This block is wedge shaped ortapered to fit said socket and provided in its lateral edges with longitudinal grooves 8 which receive said rails, thereby holding the block against vertical displacement in the socket. The block may be tightened and'held in place by any suitable means. screw 9 passing through the closed rear end of thesocket into a screw. threaded hole 10 of the block, is shown in the drawings for this purpose. tightening this screw, the block is firmly wedged into the tapering socket, holding the electric fixture rigidly in place.

Seated in a central oraxial opening of the removable block is a'metallic member 11' which is preferablytubular in. the form of a sleeve, as shown. This member is provided at its lower end with an internallythreaded enlargement or connection 12 which receives the customary stem 13 of the lighting fixture. As shown at 1 1, the exterior of the connection 12 is of hexagonal or other fiat-sided form to receive a wrench.

15 and 16 indicate tubular insulators or bushings of appropriate insulating material interposed between the sleeve 11 and the surrounding block 7 and provided with flanges 17, 18, respectively. The flange 17 is confined between the lower side of the block and the shoulder 19 of said sleeve, while the flange 18 bears against the upper side of the block. Interposed between the last-mentioned flange and the upset or flanged upper end 20 of the sleeve is a metallic washer 21.

The usual conductors 22 of the lamp pass through its stem 13 and the sleeve 11 and are soldered or otherwise connected to the supply conductors 23, the solder joints being Upon pipe 1 and the fixture stem 13 is screwed into the block 7, the canopy 25 being slid back on the housing tube 24, as usual. The adjacent ends of the fixture and supply wires are then brought through the space between the upset upper end of the sleeve 11 and the opposing wall of the hickey and are soldered together, after which the block with the attached fixture is slid into its socket and clamped therein by the screw 9. Finally, the canopy is returned into place.

This construction permits the Wires to be conveniently soldered together before introducing the block into its socket. Its compactness also permits the use of a comparatively shallow canopy and a correspondingly short fixturestem, as shown in the drawings. I

At the same time, the insulating bushings '15, 16 of the coupling obviate groundingor short-circuitingand protect the user.

We claim as our invention:

1. A coupling for electric fixtures, comprising a base-memberhaving a laterallyopenii g socket, a i'block slidable laterally into said socket and having an opening, a supporting member arranged in said opening and adapted to carry the fixture, and tubular in-'sulating bushings interposed betwcehsaid supporting member and the Wall of said block-opening and having retaining flanges arranged on opposite sidesof said block.

2. A coupling for electric fixtures, comprising a base-member, a block removably seated therein and having an opening, a supporting member arranged in said opening and provided at its upper end with a projecting flange and at its lower end with an enlarged screw connection forming a shoulder and adapted to receive the fixture stem, and tubular insulating bushings interposed between said supporting member and the wall of'said block-openingyone of said bushings having a flange arranged between said block'and the flange of said supporting member and the other bushing having a flange arranged between the block and 'the shoulder of the supporting member.

{3. A coupling for electric fixtures, comprising a base-member having converging rails forming a tapering socket between them, a correspondingly-tapered block provided in opposite edges with grooves engaging said. -rails,a supporting member passing axially through said block and adapted to carry the fixture, and an insulator interposed between said supporting member and the boreof said block.

ARTHUR A. SCHWARTZ. WILLIAM A. WHITESI'DE.

cape; of this patent may be obtained fbrfive cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

